Another week has passed!...or I think it's been a week....to be honest, I actually have no clue how long has passed since the last entry. It's a good thing we have computer access or we would never know what day it is!!

I had my first acupuncture experience....as recommended by the doctors in Canada!...and it was great!!(said with as much sarcasm as possible)...totally torturous and painful...but they say, no pain, no gain! The doctor only used three needles for the first session...only three, hardly visible, little tiny needles....and I couldn't move for the rest of the day!! One in my back, one in my hip, and one in my ankle....the first session didn't really change anything with my hip, but it sure gave me a sore back! This session was on Wednesday....on Saturday, I was still moaning about my back, so we made a quick stop in at the Chinese clinic to ask the doctor if this was normal....just to ask...as I now have a fear of Chinese medicine and acupuncture

! haha. Next thing I know, he's pushing on my back muscles to "diagnose" the issue....30 seconds later...there are 5 more needles sticking out of my back!! lol...not exactly the answer I was looking for...but he sure knows what he is doing! My back felt a lot better after that...so we were able to continue our exploration of Hualien by scooter...without a sore back! I did a couple more sessions, but I don't think it is helping my hip at all. But for the price, it was worth a shot! Each session is only $9 CAD. I've since seen an Orthepedic Specialist at the hospital....he shot me up with some steroids or something and prescribed 6 weeks of rest...haha. It's been pretty good though....so fingers crossed!!

We had planned to head out to a nearby beach last weekend...a real one, with sand and surfing, etc, but with my sore back, we didn't get going very early, so we decided to spend the day driving along the coast on our scooters to see what we could find. Nothing better than driving along the ocean, through the mountains and rainforest. We drove north and found a few interesting spots along the way...there is so much beach that is not used or frequented by the locals...just bare beach. You can't swim in this area as the ocean just drops straight down right of the coast line...so deep that they fish off the shore, and the big fishing nets are used only about 500 feet off shore. We haven't seen anyone catch anything yet though

! Also, the beach right along the water is made of small rocks, each wave brings a ton of rocks with it...the sound is fascinating...such a roar as the rocks get pushed on shore and then pulled back out. We set up camp for the day not far from the water in the soft, grainy sand....our secret escape spot! We had brought out some snacks with us to enjoy while we chilled on the beach....but we ended up sharing them....with a couple little stray puppies! They were so cute, and so small....so we shared our hot dog, our noodles, and our shrimp flavored pringles that we had to try....lol. The pup also guzzled almost a whole bottle of water too...lol....oh well, at least we gave them a couple more days of survival. We plan to frequent our secret spot, so we'll bring them wieners everytime we go...lol. Of course, we need to wait until the weather warms up a bit more....as the newspaper stated: "Cold Front Moves in, Temp Drops to 28 Degrees!"....hahahaha....I almost cried when I read this...I was laughing so hard. Not so funny anymore...it has been quite cool and there has been a ton of rain!! Some severe flooding just north of us.

We made it down to Kaohsiung for a visit. What a Marvelous city!! So clean, friendly, and beautiful! So much to see and do...and don't forget the days worth of food to eat!!!!....unbelievably delicious! Our friends took us out to a restaurant on the top of a mountain, overlooking the city...I can't explain the view

. Great food, good friends, and some awesome scenery...I'm going to miss this! It was a great visit, we managed to go to some "real" night markets, had tea at the harbor and spent some time at Love River (after getting lost off the MRT, stepping in a big pile of dog poop....with my flip flop and toe!!!, and coming millimeters away from squishing a rat the size of a kitten!!). Oh, did I forget to mention the 2 km circle we walked in the torrential downpour of rain that soaked all of our clothes, shoes, book, etc trying to find our hotel....that was literally...I mean literally (free from exaggeration) half a block from where we started!!! lol....we even took the MRT to a different station, then walked ALL the way back...in the rain...and the dark. We spent the first day at the swimming pool SPA...water massages, different medicinal hot tubs, swimming pools (outdoor and indoor)....what a day....and it was a HOT one! We didn't want to leave. It was fun to play games with "Creepy" too....that's what we nicknamed him...some guy who kept following me around and just staring at me...even if we stared back or made it quite obvious that we knew he was there...so strange! We managed to lose him eventually and enjoyed the rest of the stay by taking a nap by the pool.

Our days back in Hualien have been somewhat uneventful. We've been keeping busy by exploring, but the weather hasn't been overly co-operative. The mountains nearby were closed for awhile as they are pretty unstable from the rain. It's been pretty cool too...about 20 degrees maybe. Our last day in Taiwan will be Nov.26...then it's VACATION time!!!